Jaina Culture

Author(s): Mohanlal Mehta
Publisher: P V Research Institute Varanasi

Page 58

REALITY
49
Not only atoms are imperceptible but certain types of molecules are also not perceptible. How can, then, the If a molecule breaks imperceptible molecules be perceived and the broken part attaches itself to another molecule, the resulting combination may be gross enough to be perceived, Thus, the imperceptible molecule becomes perceptible by the combined process of division and union.
Matter is manifested in different forms, such as sound, union, division, fineness, grossness, figure, darkness, shade, heat, light etc. It forms the physical basis of body, speech, mind and respiration. Pleasure, pain, life and death are ako effects of matter.
Bodies, which are formed of matter, are of five kinds : gross (audarika), transformable (vaikriya), projectable (ahāraka), electric (taijasa) and karmic (karmana). The organic body of human beings, animals and plants is called gross body. It is full of blood. bones etc. The transformable body is possessed by celestial and infernal beings. It is also possessed by human beings and animals with an extraordinary power. It is capable of transformation in different shapes and sizes. The projectable body is developed by an advanced ascetic. It can be sent to great distances on special occasions. The electric body possesses the power of digesting the food one takes. The inner subtle body which is the seed of all mental and physical existence and activities is called karmic body. It is composed of eight kinds of karmas.
We can perceive only the gross body with our senseorgans. The other bodies are imperceptible. The succeedThe ing body is subtler than the preceding one in order. electric and karmic bodies are not obstructed by any mundane soul impediment. They are associated with a from beginningless time. At the time of transmigration, only these two kinds of bodies are possessed by the souls. A living being can have four kinds of bodies time. It cannot have the transformable
at the most at a
and projectable